CHP steps up patrol on Hwy. 12

Saturday

Aug 31, 2013 at 12:01 AM

LODI - Available Stockton-area California Highway Patrol officers will be on guard this weekend as motorists make their Labor Day travels, and officers are focusing on one of the area's most dangerous thoroughfares.

Jason Anderson

LODI - Available Stockton-area California Highway Patrol officers will be on guard this weekend as motorists make their Labor Day travels, and officers are focusing on one of the area's most dangerous thoroughfares.

The Highway 12 Campaign began at noon Friday and will continue until 11:59 p.m. Monday, authorities said. Officers will use patrol vehicles, motorcycles and fixed-wing aircraft to maximize enforcement, watching carefully for impaired or reckless drivers and those committing violations that cause the greatest risk to life and property, officials said.

"Through education and enforcement, our officers are saving lives and reducing the risk of injury to those traveling on Highway 12," said Capt. Rob Patrick, commander of the Stockton-area CHP office. "Remember to drive defensively, always wear your seat belt and avoid distractions while you're behind the wheel."

Highway 12 stretches from State Route 49 in Calaveras County to Sonoma County. Officers from the Stockton, south Sacramento and Solano CHP offices will heavily patrol a stretch of the highway between Lodi and Fairfield known as Blood Alley.

There have been two fatal crashes and 25 injury collisions on Highway 12 in 2013, and those figures do not include a crash that killed four people on New Year's Eve, said Officer James Smith, a spokesman for the Stockton-area CHP.

"It's not that the road is dangerous. It's that the people driving it show risky behavior," Smith said. "If they would just take their time, be aware of their surroundings and focus on getting there safely instead of trying to save a few seconds by trying to pass somebody, that would make it less dangerous."

Much of the stretch of Highway 12 in San Joaquin County is an undivided two-lane road, Smith said. Area resident David Arnaiz, co-owner of Kingdon Airport, said the road has been hazardous for many years.

"I've been around here all my life, and it's always been a very dangerous road," he said. "We always fear when our kids drive it, and my parents always feared when we drove on it."

Smith said officers are looking for drunken drivers, reckless drivers, speeders, drivers who make unsafe passes and anyone else who endangers their own life or the lives of others.

"With this campaign, we want to remind the motoring public that we're out there," Smith said. "We're out there year-round, but this show of force lets them know we take safety very, very seriously, and we're going to do whatever we can to make sure everyone can get home safely."